Dick Rosenbauer pulls the sled with his 1955 Oliver Super 77.
Dean Brown | The Lima News
ALLEN COUNTY — The antique tractor pull at the Allen County Fair is a family event. Participating in this year’s pull were four members of the Rosenbauer family: Dick Rosenbauer, his nephew Doug and Doug’s sons, Zac and Seth.
Dick Rosenbauer had a 1955 Oliver Super 77 Diesel in the competition. It was actually one of the tractors he used on his farm. Dick quit farming twenty years ago. He is now a youthful eighty-six years old. He used his Super 77 to pull in competitions for the last twenty years. “My dad always had Olivers. He would buy some perfectly worthless looking tractors and me and my brother would have to fix them up.” When asked in how many pulls per year he normally participates, Dick Rosenbauer said, “I try to get to a half a dozen. There’s a lot of these pulls around.”
“You got to be weighed for the correct weight class and then basically, if you have enough horsepower and get the horsepower to the tires, you’ll probably pull pretty well,” explained Doug Rosenbauer.
Zac Rosenbauer, who runs a coding business with his brother Seth, reflected on his involvement in antique tractor pulling. “I think a big part of it is to stay connected to roots. So it’s just kind of staying connected because we both lived in the city for the last ten years.”
Seth Rosenbauer shared, “My earliest memories are at the fair with my grandpa and Uncle Dick.”
Tim Hall explained how the pull operates, “What were going to have here today is an antique tractor pull. We’ve got a sled here to pull. The object is to see how far you can pull it down this track. Weights move to make the resistance harder as tractors move further down the track. All of these tractors are from Allen County.”
Robert DeVier had a good day at the pull, winning five of the eight categories. Other winners included Dakota Henry in the 4500 pound division, Zach Dawson in the 6500 pound division, and Drew DeVier in the 10,000 pound division.
Reach Dean Brown at 567-242-0409
